Journey of the Sanses

Chapter 15: The ReaperTale Universe

When the eleven monsters emerged from the alley and walked into the ReaperTale Universe, Reaper thought that his domain would be in adequately good conditions. But when he opened his eyes, he didn't see anything like that at all. Instead, the main area of the ReaperTale Universe was dingy, crowded, and polluted with the scent of disease. He wasn't disappointed or anything, but he was a little bit concerned about the health of his Universe. "I sure hope that it's not like this in Renrink's lair," the cloaked skeleton thought to himself.

But given the conditions of his surroundings and the worried looks on the two youngsters' faces, the state of the Queen's lair was probably of a similar manner. Despite that, he kept his hopes intact. When the group had finished examining the area, Anger and Stick Cat gestured them to follow the two of them. The nine monsters walked behind them and watched their footsteps so that they could keep up with them.

Eventually, they reached a metal shed that looked like a house but not neatly structured and had more of a makeshift demeanor than that of a normal home. "That's her lair?!" Classic Sans exclaimed. "Yeah," Anger responded. "Believe it or not, ReaperTale isn't exactly in its best condition. Especially after all those times that Fallacy's armies bombarded it because the Queen wouldn't get involved in the war." 

"Wait, Fallacy was actually trying to get her to fight?!" Suave exclaimed. "Unfortunately, that is true," the avian youngster replied. "But despite it all, our Queen has stood strong and has still refused to be part of the Multiversal War." Suave and his acquaintances sighed in relief and wore smiles of approval for Renrink's undying refusal to join the war. "Well," Reaper thought to himself. "That's one thing that I have to be proud of my mother for. I wonder if there's anything else to be proud of her for."

With that in their minds, they walked up to the makeshift metal shed that was Queen Renrink's lair and prepared themselves to meet the ruler of the ReaperTale Universe and to perhaps gain her support for their quest to end the Multiversal War.

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This wasn't what they'd expected at all. Right when they had approached the entrance to the metal shed, two burly guardians had immediately placed restraining cuffs on them and had forcefully moved them along without even giving them a chance to speak. Now, they were being pushed to what they hoped was the throne room.

Apparently, the reason why they had done so was that they "couldn't afford to let in any more visitors unguarded" because all too often, the visits had turned into destructive raids of Renrink's lair, and so they had become untrusting of any more people coming in to see her. Reaper thought that their reasoning for restraining them was fair, but judging on the glares and worried expressions on their faces, the others didn't seem to agree with him.

"Keep moving," one of the guardians said. The eleven monsters obeyed and continued to walk in the direction of Renrink's throne room. Soon, they came to an opening that was surrounded by metal bars and was guarded by two more guardians, who seemed to be just as strong as their other two acquaintances.

"Halt," said one of the unfamiliar guardians. The two others stopped in front of him, along with their eleven captives. The two new guardians examined them before the other guardian spoke up. "Why in the name of the Multiverse do you have a Draconian with you? Why didn't you just execute her?"

"She didn't seem to be as aggressive as the other Draconians, so we didn't feel like we needed to kill her," one of the other guardians replied whilst pointing at Sera. Even though all four of the guardians wore armor that covered their entire bodies, it seemed like they could still talk clearly without the metal protection constraining their speech.

A few moments passed before the other unfamiliar guardian spoke up again. "Very well, then. You may pass through and see the Queen." And with that, the two guardians backed away from the entrance, allowing the other two and their captives to enter the opening. As they did so, the two youngsters began to quiver nervously, but the two guardians did not notice.

And so, the eleven monsters were pushed forward by the two guardians as they came closer and closer to meeting Queen Renrink. It was only a matter of time before Reaper would finally get to know his own creator and brother. He knew that he could only expect the worst and hope for the best from this encounter.

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When they arrived at what appeared to be Renrink's throne room, the guardians released their captives from their restraining cuffs and left them to themselves to face the Queen. In the mind of Reaper, it seemed impractical for the guardians to do that, but he sure as heck wasn't complaining about it. And neither were his acquaintances, who seemed to be very happy to be unrestrained.

The very first thing that Geno did upon being released was to give Sera a reassuring hug, which she gratefully accepted and returned. "I ship it so hard," Stick Cat muttered quietly, whilst Anger looked joyful upon seeing the show of affection between the red-scarfed skeleton and the pink Draconian.

Reaper examined his surroundings. Just as he had predicted, the throne room was in a horrible condition that was similar to that of the ReaperTale Universe itself - or at least its main area. But instead of having the scent of disease, it was replaced by that of smoke. Not to mention that it wasn't crowded in the slightest, but the cloaked skeleton could guess that the throne room was probably like that during royal meetings - if they even had them.

A few moments passed, then a tall skeleton clad in mahogany robes emerged from the shadows of the throne room. Once he landed his eyes on the eleven monsters, he frantically began to ask them questions. "Are any of you hurt? They didn't hurt you too much, did they? I'm very sorry about what they had to do to you!"

"He seems... familiar, somehow," Reaper thought to himself. The tall skeleton then turned his attention to the cloaked skeleton, and upon doing so, his eyes widened in realization. "Sans?" The tall skeleton said. Reaper's eyes became as wide as saucers as he recognized the voice. "P-... P-Papyrus?!" They slowly approached each other. Once they did so, they both realized who one another was and embraced each other in a brotherly hug.

Everyone else watched the reunion of Reaper and his brother in pure happiness for the two siblings. A few moments of joyful silence passed before a tall female goat monster also came into the throne room. "Papyrus, where in the name of the Multiverse did you..." she paused upon seeing Reaper. "Go...?"

Reaper turned his head towards the goat monster and gasped in shock, for he knew exactly who she was. "T-... Toriel?" "Sans?" Life Toriel said. She then ran up to Reaper and Death Papyrus, and spoke up. "I am so sorry for how those heathen guardsmen treated you and your friends," she said to Reaper. "Perhaps I should have them give the eleven of you a formal apology."

"You will do no such thing, Life Toriel," an unfamiliar feminine voice from the shadows spoke. Everyone whipped their heads around to the source of the voice, only to land their eyes on a female human wearing a red sweatshirt and a yellow flower in her dark brown hair. Reaper's instincts told him exactly who she was. "Holy cow, it's Queen Renrink," he thought to himself. "My creator and mother. Finally, I'm gonna get to meet her."